Nature’s flow is disrupted when people try to gain control over it. Through such attempts, the bliss of nature gets lost.
This issue has been highlighted in the theme of the play ‘Ashes, Blood, Rivers’ written by Shahidul Mamun based on a Thai myth in which six actors from five different countries including Bangladesh, France, Hong Kong, Uganda and Thailand performed.Directed by Faiz Zahir, the play has been staged twice at the Experimental Theatre Hall of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy on Saturday.
The plot revolves around a king’s search for Naga (the great serpent) at the source of a river. The Naga is thought to be a treasure-house with the capacity to bestow limitless wealth.
But in his quest for personal gratification, the king faces unexpected oddities from the river and disregarding the warnings of his predecessors, he makes repeated attempts to gain control over the river. However eventually when he succeeds to reach the source of the river, to his utter dismay he finds that it has dried out.
The play emphasises that power-wielding and greedy practices of people always results in impairment and destruction of the environment and nature.
The presentation on stage has been kept very simple. Faiz Zahir did his task with almost no set design. For the audience, there was a simultaneous pleasure and difficulty arising due to actors speaking in their native languages. However, the use of body language was more instrumental than dialogues to get the message across.
‘Cross-cultural production is useful for theatre members. But for this type of production, a much well-known and familiar story should have been chosen keeping the audience in mind,’ remarked thespian Ramendu Majumdar, world-wide president of International Theatre Institute.
‘The director was successful in communicating the play’s message,’ noted theatre actor Muhammad Bari of Theatre Art Unit told New Age.
‘Ashes, Blood, Rivers’ was a part production of a project titled ‘Confluence of Rivers’, conducted by Asian’s People’s Theatre Festival Society in collaboration with theatre troupe Aranyak Natyadal of Bangladesh.
Before Bangladesh, the play has been staged in Hong Kong and Thailand. The play will also be staged in Uganda, France (8th IDEA congress) and England.
The play will be staged for the third time in Bangladesh on May 29 at the Theatre Institute Chittagong.
-With New Age input
